IT’S one of the most controversial artworks ever made.
And it’s coming to Huddersfield. But now it’s got a rival.
Sculptor Carl Andre made the art world sit up and take notice after his pile of firebricks was bought by the prestigious Tate art gallery.
And now Kirkburton’s Wilf Lunn has recreated the sculpture – in biscuits.
Wilf replicated Andre’s work in finger creams at the West Yorkshire Print Workshop in Mirfield.
And, with Wilf’s well-known sense of irony, he has labelled his work “Summat T’ate” – which, as all good Tykes know, is Yorkshire dialect for something to eat – as well as being a play on the word Tate.
Lunn, 69, a former Examiner columnist, has been an artist all his life and knows what he likes.
He is diplomatic in his review of Andre’s famous work, Equivalent VIII, but more forthcoming on his own crumbly creation.
“There’s an old Yorkshire saying that the perfect garden has ‘summat to look at an’summat t’ate’.
“That’s where the inspiration came from.
“They call work like the Tate piece minimalist and it is appreciated by people who are told it’s a great piece of art.
“It’s a lot like the Emperor’s New Clothes: people tell you it’s great.
“I remember going to see an exhibition at York Minster once and saw a carved cruficix-style piece on the floor. A young lad came up and saw the artist working on it. He asked simply: ‘When are you going to finish it?
“At the end of the day, a pile of bricks is always going to be a pile of bricks.”
Wilf’s work is part of the Flat Cap and Whippet show at the Mirfield gallery on Huddersfield Road.
There are 20 local artists exhibiting at the show, including Helen Roddie, Catherine Green and Lisa Stubbs.
The show runs until August 27.
Meanwhile, the Andre work is due to go on show at Huddersfield Art Gallery as part on an eight-week exhibition called Fields of Contention, which opens on September 17.
His arrangement of 120 firebricks was bought by the Tate in 1972 for £2,297.
Wilf’s biscuits cost a little less, even though they’ve got cream inside.
